


McLaughlin and Neal, NC State Class of 2020

by one_true_houselight



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Pining, au in college 2017, college rhink, fluff?, rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 08:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13431141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_true_houselight/pseuds/one_true_houselight
Summary: Rhett and Link have a plan to get free pizza.





	McLaughlin and Neal, NC State Class of 2020

**Author's Note:**

  * For [archionblu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/archionblu/gifts).



> Gift for archionblu for 2017 secret santa! Sorry it took so long to post here. Thanks to linkslipssinkships and shewasjustagirl for beta readin and editing and such!

Rhett barely noticed when Link walked into the dorm room, too focused on the assignment he’d been putting off for the last three weeks. 

“Hey Rhett, how’s that paper coming?” 

Rhett grunted without turning. Link laughed as he swung his bag off his shoulder. “Y’know--”

“If you say ‘I told you so’, I will go dead on you.” Rhett’s tone would have been aggressive if it weren’t buried under layers of stress. He was working on a research assignment for one of the general engineering classes he and Link were both in.

“You said you weren’t going to do that anymore.”

“Don’t test me.” 

Link rolled his eyes as he sat down at his desk. He listened to Rhett furiously work, letting the key tapping and page turning fill the silence in the small space. After a few minutes, Rhett pushed himself away from the desk and groaned in frustration. 

“What’s up?” Link turned himself in his chair to partially face his best friend.

“This assignment is ridiculous. I don’t even know why we have to do it.”

“Ah yes, because college is known for being 100% logical all the time.” Despite himself, Rhett smiled at the wall behind his desk. Link spun back to face his own desk, his mission accomplished. He pulled out the book he needed to read for his class the next day and settled in.

That was, he settled in until he sensed a _very_ tall presence behind him. Sighing, he grabbed some pizza chain’s pamphlet to mark his place, preparing himself for an argument. “No Rhett, you can’t look at mine.” 

“Oh come on, Link. I wasn’t going to say that.” Rather than actually turning towards Rhett, Link simply leaned back until Rhett was in his eyeline. The look of innocence in his teal eyes was almost as fake as the offense in his voice, and Link was having none of it. At the sight of the upside look of disbelief, Rhett broke down. “Oh come on, I’m not gonna copy or anything, dude! I just want inspiration!” When Link’s expression didn’t change, Rhett tried on an offended look. “You don’t trust me?”

Link rolled his eyes, but sat back up and turned to face Rhett. “Oh, it’s not that I don’t trust you. But you won’t learn if you use mine.” 

“Oh yeah, this assignment is going to teach me so much.”

“Not learning from the assignment. Learning to do your work in a timely manner instead of playing whatever stupid game you play-”

“Of course.” Rhett cut Link off, leaning down to get in his face. “I knew you couldn’t resist. At least I have a life outside of school.”

Link chuckled. “Ooh, what an insult. Wanting to pass means I don’t have a life. Rhett, I think you might have to consider the fact that it’s not me that’s the problem here.”

To Link’s surprise, Rhett opened his mouth to reply, but seemed to stall. They looked into each other’s eyes in silence for a bit, but before Link could process his feelings, Rhett pulled away. And before Link could then try to process Rhett’s expression, Rhett buried whatever had been written on his face. 

“Fine, Link. You know what? I’ll do it myself. And it’ll be twice as good as yours!” Link shook himself out of whatever had just happened.

“All right. Good luck, McLaughlin.” Link turned around and grabbed his book, opening it to the marker. Rhett glanced down at the book, and his eyes widened.

“Let me see that.”

“The book?”

“No! The pamphlet.” Link handed the paper to Rhett. He snatched it and read it. “Link, it’s free pizza night at this place!”

“Keep reading, Rhett.”

“For couples.” 

“Sorry, buddy.”

“Why?” 

Link sighed. “Neither of us have girlfriends, unless you got a lot better at keeping secrets.”

“We could pretend to be one!” 

Link’s breath caught in his throat for a split second. 

_Why was this affecting him like this?_

Link was too busy in his own thought process to notice the forced casualness in Rhett’s voice. He finally responded, his voice thankfully not betraying his thoughts. “I mean, I suppose. But don’t you think they’ll have a problem with that?”

“C’mon, it’s 2017 man! No one cares anymore. Well...” Link pushed all the awkwardness (and other things he didn’t want to explore right now) away and thought about it as Rhett chattered on. Free pizza did sound fantastic.

“All right. When you’re done, we’ll go.” Rhett whooped and went back to his desk, setting to work with much more determination.

After all, there is a force that affects college students more than love, more than fear, more than anything, and that force is the prospect of free food.  
\-----------------------------------------------  
“Really, that’s what you’re wearing for our date?” Rhett smirked as he called across the room to Link. Link looked down at the t-shirt and jeans he’d been wearing all day. 

“There’s such a thing as casual dates, you know.” But he opened his closet again and buried his face in the clothes. Rhett thought he saw him blushing-No. Rhett put that thought in the same overflowing mental box as the flutter he got when he said ‘our date’ and pushed it into the corner. He took a breath. 

“Sure man. Whatever makes you feel better.” A shirt hit him, thrown from the closet. He threw it back, laughing. 

“Get your shoes on, unless you were planning on going barefoot. Which, in my opinion, would be worse than my apparent wardrobe faux pas.” Link’s eyes sparkled mischievously, making Rhett’s breath stutter…

Another one for the box.

They walked across campus together, laughing and joking. The truth was, Rhett had felt this way for a long time, but had come to the conclusion that the risk of losing Link altogether was too great to reveal it. So he had made a box and lived, and usually the bittersweetness of that decision was overshadowed by the happiness of having Link as a friend. 

As they got closer to the restaurant they started planning. 

“Ok, we don’t want to lay it on too thick. I think holding hands should be enough.” Rhett’s tone was completely casual despite the many emotions being added to the box, and he was so busy dealing with it he failed to notice Link’s steps stutter. 

“Yeah, that should do it.” They walked in silence before they spoke at the same time:

“We might want to start before we get there so it looks real.” “Can we practice now so it looks natural?”

They chuckled at this, their stereo speaking at this point an accepted quirk. They each reached out and grabbed the other’s hand, Rhett’s hand dwarfing Link’s. They settled into a comfortable position quicker than either of them expected, and they let the clasped hands swing between them. 

“Sorry my hands are sweaty.” Rhett broke the silence that had descended between them, an almost imperceptible breathy quality in his voice. Link didn’t notice, or at least didn’t acknowledge it. 

They kept walking, soon reaching their destination. It was usually a busy place, being a pizza place near a college campus, and tonight was even more so. As Rhett and Link walked up, they heard a voice call them. A boy ran up beside them, his earring glinting. 

“Hi Tom.” Tom looked down at their hands. Before he could speak, Link hastily answered the question Tom hadn’t yet asked.

“We’re trying to get free pizza. It’s only free for couples, so we’re pretending.” Rhett smiled, ignoring the sinking feeling from Link’s hurry to clarify. _C’mon man, it’s not real. He’s right._

“Nice! I wish I had someone who would do that with me.” Rhett and Link smiled, and the three walked in.

Rhett ordered two slices of supreme, and rolled his eyes at Link’s pepperoni order. Their hands stayed linked. He smirked at the pun as they walked up to the cash register. 

The woman behind the counter smiled kindly at them. “Did you two boys know that pizza’s free for couples tonight?”

Rhett squeezed Link’s hand as he turned to him. “We did not. What do you know, baby?” He froze, looking into Link’s eyes. He hadn’t planned on using any kind of pet names tonight. His eyes must have looked panicked to warrant the look of concern in those bright blue eyes. Link looked at him for what felt like hours before turning to the woman. 

“I guess I just got a little luckier tonight.” He smiled at Rhett, nudging him with his shoulder. Rhett found his bearings as the woman typed in the deduction and wished them a good night. He looked at the receipt she had handed him, and saw she had scribbled ‘I’m proud of you two!’. He hastily shoved it in his pocket and looked for an empty table. Tom had taken his pizza to go (“I gotta study statistics”), so they found a table for two and ate their pizza. Link carried the conversation, Rhett lost in his own thoughts. 

As they walked out the restaurant, Rhett hesitated. Their con was done. Did they still have to hold--

Before he could decide, he felt someone grab his hand. He looked over to Link in surprise. They smiled and kept walking.

They didn’t let go, even after they were out of sight of the restaurant.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
